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starryeved 's review for:
West Side Love Story
by Priscilla Oliveras
I wanted to like this so much more than I did. West Side Love Story is spun from a tried-and-true source of inspiration from an authentic voice, and the premise of warring mariachi band families amidst gentrification and other socially relevant issues is a huge huge plus.
However. I simply could not get over Oliveras' writing style. The narrative voice feels stilted and awkward, and every other sentence is so bloated with similes that rarely even fit the context of the story (how many times do they have to mention "beautiful hazel eyes with flecks of gold" and other uncomfortably hyperbolic descriptions of how perfect each other are? I counted at least 10) that it felt like I was reading a 2012 fanfiction. Beyond this, while Mariana and Angelo are interesting, they're also portrayed as way, way too perfect to feel real at times - somehow they're both incredibly competent and attractive and perfectly kind and compassionate, the models of decorum to literally everyone around them 24/7?
Instead of adding depth and nuance to the romance genre with the exploration of the foster care system, gentrification, and a number of the other layered topics introduced, Oliveras sidetracks what could otherwise have been a standout retelling with overloaded and awkward writing & dialogue, not-so-three-dimensional characters (plus, where is all the love for the other side characters?) and a generally anticlimactic ending.
However. I simply could not get over Oliveras' writing style. The narrative voice feels stilted and awkward, and every other sentence is so bloated with similes that rarely even fit the context of the story (how many times do they have to mention "beautiful hazel eyes with flecks of gold" and other uncomfortably hyperbolic descriptions of how perfect each other are? I counted at least 10) that it felt like I was reading a 2012 fanfiction. Beyond this, while Mariana and Angelo are interesting, they're also portrayed as way, way too perfect to feel real at times - somehow they're both incredibly competent and attractive and perfectly kind and compassionate, the models of decorum to literally everyone around them 24/7?
Instead of adding depth and nuance to the romance genre with the exploration of the foster care system, gentrification, and a number of the other layered topics introduced, Oliveras sidetracks what could otherwise have been a standout retelling with overloaded and awkward writing & dialogue, not-so-three-dimensional characters (plus, where is all the love for the other side characters?) and a generally anticlimactic ending.